You Don't Need to Wait for a Monday to Move!

Yesterday I saw a very clever cartoon of a hefty cheer leader rallying a group of ready and willing winter weight wearers to work off the pounds. "When are we gunna start?"  the cheerleader motivates.  "On Monday!" replies the rally.  The motivator goes on to inform the group, "Today is Monday!" and the group enthusiastically responds, "Next Monday!"  Monday is the easiest time to assign yourself a task, for it's after the weekend and is followed by Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday incase Monday doesn't work out.  If the action in question is put off until Friday, the next Monday is just around the corner, so you can start then.  My suggestions: Stop waiting for Monday~

Waiting until Monday does two things: one, puts further distance between you and your goal, and two, creates distrust for yourself.  If you are telling yourself you wish you accomplish any specific thing, avoid the self distrust and begin now. Right Now.  If you have a goal to loose weight, get up and take a walk right now.  If you have a goal to clear the clutter, take 7 minutes and clear off one table top right now.  If you have a goal to run a marathon, find a program and sign up for a race.... right now.

Because you have brains in your head and feet in your shoes, you know health and wellness isn't automatic.  Environmental invaders, like pesticides, the bird flu and pet dander invade the human body and interrupt the harmonies within.  Stimulants increase normal body pressures and decrease hydration levels.  Processed foods strain the digestive system and saturate the blood, brain, and liver with toxins.  Stress unbalances hormones.  Sugar taxes organs.  Sleep deprivation adds to stress, blood toxicity, dehydration and hormone imbalance.  Your health and wellness is underneath the environmental crud; after the stimulants wear off; above the stress; in the wake of sugar; inside of a deep breath; beyond a good night's sleep. Are you really willing to wait until Monday?

My goals this week included thinking of a name for my health coaching practice.  I took my dilemma to work today, and through a conversation with a few very clever women, a potential name was created.  I have also been trying to identify specific areas my health coaching practice will cover in order to deliver results to my target market; from that a Grocery Cart Curriculum was born.  I still may have arrived at a name and I still may have come up with a curriculum, but not until Monday if I had waited.  I am glad I put my fears aside instead of feeding them for four more days.

We are having Chili for dinner.  Kendra is in charge of the corn bread, and I have the beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices all stewing away on the stove.  Plenty of clean water will fill our cups as we sit down to discuss the daily events in our different corners of the world.  We will feed our vitamins with vitamins found in our food and by thoughts of accomplishment and feelings of satisfaction.  I encourage you too, dear reader, to wash your hands of fear and waiting and begin nourishing yourself right now...  Monday isn't worth the wait!

Anna~

Share your goals with me!  I would love to applaud your efforts!

One Small Change

We are nearly into the 3rd month of the year and Spring is arriving.  Days are a touch longer.  The sun is casting a warmer blanket directing a longer shadow.  I can feel the anticipation of the changing season within me just as I can see it on the world.  Change, evolution, doesn't happen all at once; instead it is a series of small changes connected together that wow observers and beholders alike.  One simple change can align your efforts toward accomplishing your nutritional or lifestyle goals, just as the warmer sun coaxes the trees to bud.

Again, I ask, "What is your goal?"  All of us have plans.  Weight loss.  A Marathon.  Reducing Sugar cravings. Balancing the check book.  Clearing clutter.  Starting a business.  Goals are individual aspirations that deliver a sense of belonging in the world; aspirations should not be ignored or discredited for aspirations come from intuition.  Intuition, by definition, is the ability to understand something without the need for conscious reasoning.  As you identify your goals, listen to your intuition- you will then realize a path of least resistance to deliver you to your desires.

I have much going on in my world these days.  I work 4 hours a day during the school week.  I am in module 14 of 40 perusing a health coaching career through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  Because of my commitment to achieving my certificate, I have morning meetings, lectures to absorb, health history practices to schedule, and a program to structure.  I have a goal of delivering a healthy lunch lecture to the Middletown Public School System, possibly in March, which I need to construct and have approved.  I also have kids, a husband, a dog, a puppy, a cat, bills, a household to manage and myself to take care of.  No one ever said perusing goals was easy.

Following a path takes energy.  Positive energy, physical energy, emotional energy, mental energy, love, and intuition.  Energy is derived from water, sleep and the food you eat.  I believe that food is the foundation of all other things; if your body is nourished, your mind is hydrated and your soul is fed, then all things are possible through defining desires and demanding them to be true.  Each of us is worth living in our purpose, dear reader, and each of us has the power to evolve into ourselves!

While you describe your desires and tune in to your intuition, grab some real, whole, naturally occurring food.  Wash in the nutrients with plenty of clean water.  Pick your foods from colorful produce, crunchy nuts, soft fruit, tart berries, sweet honey, deep roots, delicate greens and local meat to ensure your vitamins get their vitamins.  Wash your hands of fear and take one small step into the familiar unknown of your intuition.  As you bud, and then bloom, you will coax those around you to do the same...  all it takes is one small change...

Anna~

How Are You?

The very first question on my Health History form is, "What is your name?"  Names of people, like names of vitamins, have meaning.  Most times a person lives up to the meaning of their name without  the intention to do so; my Cadence is musically inclined, my Sean is giving and considerate, my Kendra knows everything, but if you ask them what their names mean they wouldn't be able to tell you.  It is the same for vitamins and the fruits and vegetables that deliver them; beautiful representations of what they have to offer without intending to be anything more than a fruit or a vegetable or a vitamin.

Another question on the form is, "What are your health concerns?"  I believe health can be brought about by food.  Think of a blueberry.  A cherry.  A cranberry.  A round cut from the center of a carrot.  All are round and full of color and represent the eye: all are delicious carriers of essential vitamins and minerals that support good vision.  What about salmon, pink and clear; walnuts and almonds, with their creamy white, smooth flesh; eggs with their elasticity and definition:  all are good for healthy skin.  Apples are good for clear lungs.  Oranges are good for clean kidneys.  Garlic is good for the heart. -Foods do a fascinating job representing the organs they support but we can only reap their benefits if we eat them.

Another question still, "What do you typically eat?"  Food selection can define a person in nutritiously predictable ways.  Food has energy, vitamins, and nutrients to balance the energy, vitamins and nutrients within the person who eats it.   If energy is lacking, chicken or fish, coffee, and dark colored fruits and vegetables can bolster a bounce.  If clarity is coveted, nuts, seeds, citrus, tomatoes and red wine can carry it through.  When rest is desired, whole grains, calm animals, herbal tea, dairy, stew and skipping the stimulants will deliver. -The energy and nutrients of the food you eat becomes who you are - and how you are - whether you intend it to or not.

The last question on my health history form is, "What is one thing you can do to improve your health right now?"  The answer is different for everyone, I am finding out, for food is not the only health concern people cultivate.  Health is a multifaceted concept that rests in the bed, that walks to the bus, that pays for the water, that cries and bleeds and smiles and breathes.  Health is fed by laughter, by love, by encouragement, by education, by accidents, by reward, by conversation, and, among many others, by food.  -You may not intend to live up to your name and you may not intend to become your food, but you can have intentions that will develop and define your health...  and ...you've already begun.

When all else seems complicated, eat real, simple, whole, naturally occurring food.  Wash in the vitality with water.  Make sure you support your vitamins with vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  When you are wondering what else is on my Health History form, click on the 'Make a Connection' tab above and I can walk you through it.  All I need is your name~

Anna~